1995 Mazda MX3 GS 1.8 V6 from North America

Summary:

Costly

Faults:

CV boots - Standard - had to replace.

Distributor - this was a very expensive repair! It cost me around $1000 for a rebuilt distributor and installation of it. The previous owner, who was my friend, had replaced the distributor one year before I bought it. This is a well known problem with MX3 - it is quite common.

Alternator belt and bracket.

Back brakes.

Front wheel bearings.

Front left axle.

Front ball joints.

I bought this car from my friend who had taken care of it and babied it. Her parents helped maintain the car and did all the major work at professional auto garages and kept the receipts. (Timing Belt/F&B Brakes, ATX Flush, Water Pump, etc) I went over everything and I knew her driving habits. She wasn't the type to abuse her car.

I did some research on the car, but not very deep. The first repairs were the CV boots, which was understandable. Then the distributor went out. Cost me $1000 to replace. After that, it went downhill from that point onward.

A couple months later, my back brakes were toasted and I had replaced both sides. (Apparently the previous garage had incorrectly installed them) Cost me another $1000 to fix.

Then my front end started failing me. The front wheel bearings, front left axle and front ball joints failed (I can understand it is a 15 year old car) but I didn't expect the parts to be so expensive.

After I fixed it ($1500), the alternator belt broke, which I had to bring and fix it. It cost me another $600 because the bracket was apparently broken too.

That was the last straw, and I decided to get rid of it before it really put me into the hole. Before I traded it into the dealership, there was a guy who test drove my car. For some unknown reason, the hold button didn't work (to my dismay, many Mazda ATX have cooling problems which will end in a rebuild).

People: I am just stating my experience with the car. The previous owner and I never abused the car. I always took my car for oil changes and I used synthetic. I always had the transmission fluids checked. When there was a problem, it would be in the shop and I did my very best to keep in perfect running condition. I just felt that parts were too expensive, and the distributor and ATX are two of the main problems of the MX3.

13th Apr 2014, 13:57

$1000 to replace the distributor? Ouch!! Sounds like you went to the dealership.

The most you should EVER pay for a brand new (not re-manufactured) OEM Mazda MX3 distributor is $300. Typically, they sell for less. Factor in an hour's worth of labor, and the total bill should never exceed $400.

1995 Mazda MX3 1.6 DOHC from North America

Summary:

I love this car and everything about it

Faults:

The only thing that has gone wrong with my car is that after 5 years of having her. Three of my sensors had to be replaced and my throw out bearing. Although I replaced the sensor, the parts weren't cheap. I really do think the people that worked on my car did what they said. I think they were just trying to get money out of me, because they said that they replaced the throw out bearing and when I got my car back it was still making the ugly noise, but when I took it to another person a year later, thinking I was going to have to replace the trans. It turned out the people that did it earlier didn't replace it, because the guys did it in front of me to prove that it wasn't replaced and when they were done, my car sounded perfect. Now as far as my senors my check eng. light would still come on and the guys before said that I had another 300 dollar sensor to replace, but when the new guys looked at it they saw that my air duck housing looked like it was cut at the bottom so they fixed it and now everything is great. I love how my car runs, drive, and looks. I don't think I would every give her up. And the way the price of gas is going, I think I would keep her forever. As you can see I done had her for over 6 years. And the only thing that was wrong was people screwing me, but that's OK. You live and learn. I also changed out the air intake with an after market one and changed the exhaust. But she does need a new paint job.

General Comments:

The handling on this car is fun. The only thing is my husband is 6'1. He hates getting in and out of the car, but he to likes to drive her. She is just right for me, but to small for him.